SHOUGUANG, China, April 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company" or "GURE"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today discussed the likelihood of an increasing bromine price trend in China.The United States, Israel, and China are the three largest producers of bromine. The two of largest companies in the industry are Albemarle Corporation and Israel Chemical. In recent months, both Albemarle and ICL have announced substantial price increases for bromine.

BEIJING — A centuries-old template for China's economic influence may be the best idea the nation's current-day leaders have for addressing a shortfall in growth.China reported on Wednesday that the economy expanded the least since the 2009 global recession last quarter, at a 7 percent pace. Last time round, policymakers unleashed a record credit expansion that's left a legacy of unused properties and rising bad debts.

In a failed effort to get Japan to join its new multinational lending bank, China had offered its neighbor the No. 2 post at the institution, according to a Nikkei news report Wednesday evening. Japan has since sided with the U.S. in staying out of the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), established by China last October and due to open this year. However, in a meeting in March, interim AIIB head Jin Liqun had told the Japanese chief of the Asian Development Bank that China was keen to include Japan in the new lending group and was willing to lobby the government in Tokyo in needed, the Nikkei said.

2.People don't believe China's growth figures, and the truth about the economy could be far worse

China's latest growth figures are out, and they're not good — growth of 7% from this time last year is the slowest in six years.Industrial production, retail sales, and investment all missed their forecasts. If China measured growth the way the US does (measuring the quarter-on-quarter change and then annualising it), it would have recorded only a 5.2% expansion (barely faster than the US in Q3 last year).

HONG KONG — Segway, the iconic but struggling U.S. maker of self-balancing personal electric scooters, has been bought by a Chinese rival.Beijing-based Ninebot, which makes a range of short-distance motorized transport devices, said Wednesday that it bought Segway Inc. for an undisclosed amount. It said it received $80 million from a group of investors to finance the purchase.

China Cosco Holdings has scrapped 14 vessels between February 1 and March 31 this year, continuing progress with its ambitious fleet renewal plan.The 14 ships comprised of one container vessel and 13 dry bulk carriers, which have a combined capacity of 924,700 dwt.

Copper dipped further lower on Wednesday as concern grew over demand in top consumer China. Gross domestic product rose 7 percent from a year earlier, in line with economists' forecasts. While the growth rate means China still ranks as one of the world's fastest growing major economies, it marked the country's slowest quarterly expansion since early 2009.

JERUSALEM - Israel welcomed on Wednesday the approval of its application to become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).The secretariat of AIIB announced earlier in the day that Israel and six other countries had been approved as AIIB's founding members, bringing the final total of the bank's founding members to 57.

A double-whammy of an anti-luxury sentiment and illegal, or “gray market,” charter is decimating legitimate air charter operators in China. The former has put a “large dent” in charter activity in China, while the former is stealing anywhere from 25- to 50-percent of charter business from legal operators, according to Asian Sky Group managing director Jeffrey Lowe.This has caused a “tremendous overcapacity in charter aircraft,” with one unidentified Chinese charter operator’s business being down 40- to 50 percent, he said. The environment has led to operators competing on price or shifting aircraft formerly devoted to charter to short-term leases, Lowe noted. Operators that have cultivated private clientele have fared better than those relying more on government charter business, however.

Chinese agricultural authorities are planning an investigation, following the failure of a hybrid rice variety in Anhui.It's being reported some 650-hectares of rice fields in Anhui have failed.The company behind the project, Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture, is blaming abnormal weather conditions.